The Vise Closes: the Eastern Front, episode 91
05 January 2026

The Vise Closes: the Eastern Front, episode 91

Beyond Barbarossa: The Eastern Front of World War 2

About

After 10 shattering blows on the Eastern Front in 1944, the Western Allies and the USSR continue to compress nazi Germany in January 1945. 


Map 1: The compressing front

 


1a: 1 January 1944


 


 


1b: 1 January 1945 


 


 


1c: 15 January 1945 


 


Map 2: The siege of Budapest, January 1945

 


Map 3: The Vistula-Oder campaign, January 1945

 


Map 4: The East Prussia offensive


Photos


The Budapest Chain Bridge destroyed, January 1945


 


 


Ruins of Warsaw, even in 1947


 


Source: New York photographer Henry N. Cobb, taken in 1947, via Rare Historical Photos.